Month: September 2006

Paying for Ponds to Stem Farm Runoff

  • Alan Roberson's pond traps sediment. Before the pond was built, silt washed into a creek and caused problems farther downstream. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Since the dust bowl days of the 1930s Depression, the government has been working with farmers to reduce erosion. Today, soil conservation is better. But fields still lose a lot of topsoil because not all farmers use the best conservation methods. Dirt is washed away by rain. That silt clogs up streams, rivers and lakes. But one region is trying to intercept the silt before it gets to the river system. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Since the dust bowl days of the 1930s Depression, the government has been working with
farmers to reduce erosion. Today, soil conservation is better. But fields still lose a lot of
topsoil because not all farmers use the best conservation methods. Dirt is washed away
by rain. That silt clogs up streams, rivers and lakes. But one region is trying to intercept
the silt before it gets to the river system. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports:


Farm fields in all or part of 38 states drain into the Mississippi River. Some of the
tributaries of the Mississippi are so silted that dredges have to operate around the clock to keep river
shipping lanes open.


The Sangamon River in central Illinois is not big enough for shipping cargo, but it does
run into the man-made Decatur Lake. The city of Decatur gets its water from that lake
and often has to dredge it to keep the water inlets from clogging up.


Keith Alexander is the Director of Water Management for the city of Decatur, Illinois.
He says a little soil erosion on enough farms adds up:


“And the drainage area that runs into the lake is 925 square miles of some of the world’s
best topsoil. We have literally a half-a-million acres of corn and soybean fields that flow
into our lake that we use for drinking water purposes.”


Not only does the silt clog the lake, it also carries fertilizers and pesticides with it,
polluting the lake. The city has offered farmers financial incentives to reduce soil
erosion. But it hasn’t gotten enough participation from farmers to solve the problem. So,
the City of Decatur decided to try another approach. They would offer money to landowners to build ponds. Those ponds would be located in key drainage areas next
to farm fields.


Shannon Allen is a watershed specialist with the Macon County Soil and Water
Conservation District. He says it turned out to be a pretty popular program:


“The landowners wanted it for recreational purposes, obviously fish, maybe swimming
or whatever. We’re putting them in so we can collect sediment from the farm fields
above them so they don’t go into the river system.”


Shannon Allen says the ponds work a lot better at keeping silt out of creeks and rivers and lakes
than other methods to reduce erosion.


“Basically ponds collect 90% of the silt. And, so anytime you can put up a pond, you’re
doing better than a grassed waterway or a terrace that don’t reduce sediment loads by that
much.”


The city offers up to 5,000 dollars to landowners, but that’s well short of the actual cost. A typical pond
can cost 20 to 25,000 dollars to build. But landowners have been taking the city’s offer.


Alan Roberson owns a few acres at the bottom of a sloping corn field. About 42 acres
drains onto his property and then into a creek. He says when he moved there, there was
just a big ditch where stormwater from the neighboring farm fields washed a bigger and
bigger gully, carrying sediment to the creek:


“There was places eight, ten feet deep. We’ve lived here almost 20 years and it just kept
getting deeper as it went along. I hated to even come down here and look at it because it
was getting so bad. So, I’m glad that program came along to take care of it. As you can
see, it’s not doing that anymore.”


Roberson took advantage of the city’s pond program. Where the gully used to be, a carpet
of green lawn now borders a picturesque little pond.


Alan Roberson says the pond has a pipe in the bottom of it, kind of like a bathtub plug. It
was part of the design required to get the matching funds from the city. When the pond
fills up with silt, Roberson will be able to drain it and dig out the soil:


(Sound of water trickling)


“See this valve down here? You can actually pull that up. It could very well be 20 years
from now they’ll get enough silt in here where a person will have to bring it down. But
like I said, it’s designed to do that.”


That silt is some of the richest dirt in the corn belt and could be sold back to farmers or
used for gardens or flower beds. The landowner will have to pay the cost of digging it
out, but it’s that much more silt that won’t have to be dredged from the lakes or the rivers
that feed them, where people get their public water supply.


For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

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A Better Battery for Hybrids

A US company has a new contract to work on batteries that many people hope will power the next generation of hybrid vehicles. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A US company has a new contract to work on batteries that many people hope will power
the next generation of hybrid vehicles. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Lithium-ion batteries are used in some cell phones, laptop computers and other products.
US automakers and the Energy Department have just given Johnson Controls and a
French firm a two year contract.


They want to work on getting lithium-ion batteries in hybrid vehicles. Johnson controls
will try to improve battery power in low temperatures, reduce manufacturing
costs, and boost safety. Project director Karen Bauer says the batteries hold promise:


“Lithium is gonna be overall a lighter weight solution, so improved fuel economy. And
in addition, lithium is really an enabler to the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that are
getting a lot of press today.”


But Bauer says it might may take five years before the batteries are ready to use in cars.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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State Boosts Investment in Green Energy

A growing number of institutions and governments are turning to renewable energy for their electricity. The GLRC’s Brad Linder reports:

Transcript

A growing number of institutions and governments are turning to renewable
energy for their electricity. The GLRC’s Brad Linder reports:


According to the EPA, the U.S. Air Force is the top buyer of renewable
energy in the country, with over a million megawatts of electricity
coming from wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal sources. Whole Foods Market, Johnson
& Johnson, and Starbucks also rank high on the
list.


The state government of Pennsylvania recently announced it would
double its purchase of wind and hydroelectric energy. State Environmental Secretary
Kathleen McGinty says the program will cost the state about half a million dollars. That’s
less than one percent of its total electric bill.


“So instead of us sending literally 30 billion dollars out of the state that Pennsylvanians
currently do to buy energy resources from abroad, we are investing in our own energy
resources here at home.


The doubling of its purchase makes Pennsylvania the biggest buyer of green energy
among state governments.


For the GLRC, I’m Brad Linder.

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Fish-Eating Bird Disrupting Food Chain?

The once near-extinct double-crested cormorant has made a dramatic comeback in the past few decades, and sport fisherman say the fish-eating birds are hurting their business. But as states move to limit their cormorant populations, there’s still no solid research that the birds are really to blame. The GLRC’s Gregory Warner reports:

Transcript

The once near-extinct double-crested cormorant has made a dramatic
comeback in the past few decades, and sport fisherman say the
fish-eating birds are hurting their business. But as states move to
limit their cormorant populations, there’s still no solid research that
the birds are really to blame. The GLRC’s Gregory Warner reports:


More states are joining the war on cormorants: oiling eggs to prevent
them from hatching, or shooting the birds. More than 11,000 of the
federally-protected birds were shot last year.


But there’s still no scientific proof saying birds compete with sports
fisheries. Jim Farquar is a biologist with the New York Department of
Conservation:


“We’ve not been able to detect declines in the fisheries at this point
in time. But that doesn’t mean that with a larger cormorant population
it won’t happen.”


At issue is diet. Cormorants eat whatever small fish are available,
leaving big game fish alone. In some regions, the birds eat almost
exclusively round gobies, an invasive species. Anglers believe that
cormorants disrupt the food chain, causing the numbers of larger fish to
decline.


For the GLRC, I’m Gregory Warner.

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State Passes Greenhouse Gas Regs

The state of California is poised to lead the nation in the effort to combat global warming. California will impose the kind of sweeping greenhouse gas emissions reductions the federal government has rejected. The GLRC’s Tamara Keith has more:

Transcript

The state of California is poised to lead the nation in the effort to combat global
warming. California will impose the kind of sweeping greenhouse gas emissions
reductions the federal government has rejected. The GLRC’s Tamara Keith has more:


The California global warming solutions act will set into state law a cap on greenhouse
gas emissions: a 25% reduction by 2020, and it empowers state regulators to require
major emissions reductions from the largest carbon polluters. The list includes oil
refineries, power plants, landfills and cement factories. The bill’s author Democrat
Fabian Nuqez says he hope this landmark legislation starts a nationwide movement.


“We want to be the first to do our share, to say to the rest of the nation, let’s all follow
suit.”


This legislation is the result of a deal struck between Democrats and Republican Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.


Major business groups fought hard against the bill saying California can’t cure global
warming on its own and new regulations will drive businesses out of the state.


For the GLRC, I’m Tamara Keith.

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Steering Cars Out of National Parks

  • Left to right, Federal Transit Administrator James S. Simpson, Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett, Ohio Senator Mike DeWine and Ohio Representative Ralph Regula attended the press conference at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. (Photo by Julie Grant)

The federal government is awarding nearly 100 million dollars in grant money over the next few years to reduce traffic in national parks. The GLRC’s Julie Grant reports:

Transcript

The federal government is awarding nearly 100 million dollars in grant money over the
next few years to reduce traffic in national parks around the country. The GLRC’s Julie
Grant reports:


The money is for alternative transportation projects,
including trains, shuttle buses, and bicycle trails. Federal Transit Administrator James
Simpson says each year there are nearly 700 million visits to America’s national parks
and public lands:


“And by and large those visitors have only one way of getting in and around these
national treasures: by car.”


The shuttle buses and trains are expected to reduce car pollution as well as traffic
congestion. Simpson says they are trying to help more people visit the public lands while
preserving the natural habitat and wildlife.


For the GLRC, I’m Julie Grant.

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Trees Under the Influence of Ozone and Co2

  • The circle of trees, as seen from the outside. The white pipe seen near the top delivers either normal air, one, or both of the experimental gasses to the trees. (Photo by Bob Kelleher)

In northern Wisconsin, they’re finding that gasses such as carbon dioxide and ozone will change the makeup of what survives in a future forest. An open air experiment called the Aspen FACE project has been testing trees in elevated levels of ozone and carbon dioxide for ten years. But they don’t know whether the forest can change as quickly as the climate does. The GLRC’s Bob Kelleher has more:

Transcript

In northern Wisconsin, they’re finding that gasses such as carbon dioxide and ozone will
change the makeup of what survives in a future forest. An open air experiment called the
Aspen FACE project has been testing trees in elevated levels of ozone and carbon dioxide
for ten years. But they don’t know whether the forest can change as quickly as the
climate does. The GLRC’s Bob Kelleher reports:


We’re standing inside a circle of trees: paper birch, aspen, and sugar maples, maybe 15
feet high. And they’re surrounded by a ring of large white pipes spraying the trees with
gasses – that’s the high pitched noise.


Among 12 different circles of trees, some get carbon dioxide, or ozone, or a
combination. These are the very gasses believed responsible for changing the climate –
they hold in the earth’s warmth, forcing surface temperatures higher.


Dave Karnosky, with Michigan Technological University, heads the Aspen FACE project,
near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Karnosky’s trying to predict how these gasses will affect
the northern forest:


“Those species, with aspen and aspen mixed with birch and maple make up a huge
portion of our northern forests, and there was a lot of interest by industry as well as to
what’s going to happen in the future as these greenhouse gasses continue to build up in
the atmosphere.”


Even ten years ago, when this project started, it was clear that carbon dioxide and ozone
levels were on the increase.


Ozone is destructive. It’s bad for people and for plants. Carbon dioxide, on the other
hand, is what we exhale, and what green plants need to grow. Both gasses have been on
the increase, largely due to burning fossil fuels such as in coal-fired power plants and in
cars and trucks. Karnosky says he knew aspen were quite responsive to both CO2 and
ozone:


“We weren’t sure much about the interaction, but we were sure interested in what would
happen with that, because those two pollutants are both increasing at about the same rate
in the atmosphere.”


The Aspen FACE project has shown that most trees grow well when exposed to carbon
dioxide, and most do poorly in ozone. With the gasses combined, bad effects tend to
offset the good ones, but results vary greatly between the different kinds of trees, and
even within a single species of trees, like aspen.


Karnosky has found there’s a tremendous range of genetic variation even among the
relatively few trees they’ve tested. That variation makes clear predictions difficult:


“It’s very tough to make a single prediction for species or individuals within species,
there’s so much genetic variation. So that’s been one of the, I think, kind of the highlights
from what I see in terms of a bit of a surprise for us.”


That genetic variation could be the forest’s salvation. Karnosky thinks that if some
aspens, for example, die off from ozone, maybe others will do okay, and fill the forest
back in. Sugar maples, which seem more tolerant of ozone, could replace some aspen
and birch. Then, the mix of trees in the forest would change, but the forest would
survive.


But, there could be problems if the air changes the forest too quickly. Neil Nelson is a
plant physiologist with the US Forest Service. Nelson says the region’s paper and pulp
industries rely heavily on aspen trees. He’s uncertain how quickly the forest, and forest
industry, can respond if aspen begins to die off – and how long it might take for other
trees to grow in.


“One of my colleagues has said, you know, the key issue may be whether things change
too fast for our society and economy to adjust to, and I think that’s an open question.
There seems to be great plasticity, and we aren’t quite there in terms of predicting from a
forest management standpoint what these results mean.”


It takes time to grow trees, maybe too much time if the climate suddenly shifts. The
Aspen FACE project has already provided regulators preliminary data on ozone. It could
become the basis for future pollution law. But, even ten years into the Aspen Face
project, there’s still a lot more data to harvest among the aspen and hardwoods.


For The GLRC, I’m Bob Kelleher.

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Wetlands to Slow or Grow Global Warming?

  • John Pastor is trying to figure out how climate change will affect bogs and fens like this one. (Photo by Bob Kelleher)

In northern Minnesota, a researcher says wetlands like bogs could be key to how fast the climate changes worldwide. And the areas like the upper United States and Canada in the bull’s eye for rapidly changing temperatures and rainfall. The GLRC’s Bob Kelleher reports:

Transcript

In northern Minnesota, a researcher says wetlands like bogs could be key to how fast the
climate changes worldwide. And the areas like the upper United States and Canada in the
bull’s eye for rapidly changing temperatures and rainfall. The GLRC’s Bob Kelleher
has more:


What have wetlands, like fens and bogs, got to do with global warming? John Pastor says,
plenty.


Pastor is a professor and researcher with the Natural Resources Research Institute of the
University of Minnesota-Duluth. When Pastor straps on his hip waders, he goes where
almost no one else dares to go: into northern Minnesota’s fens, where water can be
several feet deep, and onto the bogs, where the mass of plant material is so thick it floats
on standing water.


A seven year-long study has revealed that fens and bogs can either help slow global
warming, or accelerate it. Pastor says all cards are off the table if temperatures keep
rising:


“The one problem in science that has the most ramifications throughout all of science – it’s
global warming.”


We’re in a swamp north of Duluth, Minnesota. Actually, it’s a fen, and it borders some
higher landscape nearby that’s a bog. What fens and bogs have in common is water and
peat, the not quite decomposed stuff left over when plants die. Pastor says peat lands are
one of the world’s significant bank accounts for carbon. They keep carbon out of the
atmosphere.


“Peat lands cover only 3% of the earth’s surface, but they contain 30% of all the carbon
that’s in all the soil in the world, locked in that partially decomposed organic matter, that
peat.”


Minnesota has vast peat lands that have been storing carbon for 10,000 years, but even
the size of Minnesota’s peat lands pales compared to those further north – around
Canada’s Hudson Bay, or in the Russian republics – all regions Pastor says that are facing
higher temperatures.


“All of the global climate models, one thing they all agree on, is that the greatest amount
of warming will occur in areas from Minnesota northward, and then inland – mid-
continent areas. So here we are. We’re sitting right now, right in the bullseye of the
greatest amount of warming that will happen on the face of the earth.”


This is the question: Will higher temperatures help trap more carbon in bogs, or force
more carbon into the atmosphere?


In this bog, Pastor’s been trying to figure out how warmer weather will affect bogs and
fens, and, in turn, what role the wetlands will play in global change. One thing he’s
found: the results depend largely on the water table, and that’s going to depend on
rainfall.


In some combinations, say with additional heat and additional rainfall, bogs could thrive,
trapping more carbon. That would be good. In other conditions, say with more heat but
less rainfall, bogs and fens could die and decompose, releasing even more carbon into the
atmosphere. That, Pastor says, would be bad:


“Now we have kind of a double whammy. Not only are we putting carbon dioxide from
fossil fuel into the atmosphere, the warning from that could cause the carbon from the
peat land also to go into the atmosphere and accelerate the warming.”


Predicting an outcome becomes mind numbing. Pastor’s working with new mathematical
theory to try to determine at what point global warming has gone too far.


“And so what seems to be happening is the temperatures of the earth have crossed some
kind of a threshold, where all the sudden, before that they crossed that threshold, the old
earth that we grew up with was stable. Now, it’s becoming very unstable, and ice sheets
are collapsing, birds and plants are migrating – everything’s happening very, very
quickly. And we’re going to enter into a new kind of earth that has a different kind of
stability – a different stable endpoint.”


Pastor says there’s no more complicated problem in all of science than global warming,
and no more important problem. Global warming, he says, changes everything, from the
forests to the wetlands. Pastor’s hoping the new mathematical models will provide more
definitive answers in time to do something about the outcome.


For the GLRC, I’m Bob Kelleher.

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